Chef John'S Oysters Rockefeller - cooking recipe

Ingredients

2 cups rock salt, or more as needed
1 cup chopped watercress
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/4 cup bread crumbs
2 tablespoons minced green onion (white and pale green parts only)
2 tablespoons chopped celery
2 tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
2 tablespoons anise-flavored liqueur (such as Pernod(R))
1 pinch cayenne pepper, or to taste
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
36 oysters on the half shell

Preparation

Preheat an oven to 500 degrees F (260 degrees C). Pour rock salt into a large, shallow casserole dish.
Combine watercress, butter, bread crumbs, green onions, celery, tarragon, Italian parsley, anise-flavored liqueur, salt, black pepper, and cayenne pepper in a food processor; blend until smooth.
Place 8 to 12 shucked oysters on top of the rock salt. Spoon 1 to 2 teaspoons of watercress mixture a top each oyster.
Bake in the preheated oven until oysters are firm and butter has melted, about 5 minutes. Repeat with remaining oysters.